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I know vary few of you on this board of experienced japan, the vary few that have I hope pick up on my post.

AT the end of the month I've decided I'm resigning from my job, because my life has become stagnant, and I fear the day has come to facilitate change in my life or remain single and frustrated .

I've been juggling around 3 options, 2 of them see me bound to the U.S for 4 years one is a long shot due to my lack of experience.

Option 1.

I've been training for navy seals, as I had decided if they wont let me have a woman, or a good paying job...then at least I can get the rage out of my system in combat, if they wont let me be free then at least I can let my inner solder out and at least have a minimal amount of respect when I look in the mirror, and take online college courses.

The cut off date is may of next year, as you can't join without a waver once your past the age of 27, truthfully I might just need every month i can get to fully be able to pass.

Cons
4 years active to the usa, and 4 years inactive after I've served.
lack of time or ability to seek out women, let alone ones from other countrys.
High drop out rate, even though I'd never quit, it doesn't mean you can't fail to pass the tests, greater better and younger men have gone and failed

Option 2.

Same as above or more likely what would happen if I didn't make the cut for seal, I'd be a master at arms and attempt to get shipped to japan, most sailors believe it or not don't want that, as a lot of them are married, so my chances are decent but it isn't a sure thing, and of course I'd still study aswell.

Pros
steady income
health insurance
Japanese women

cons
No life skills learned finding a job after the fact would still be a problem unless law enforcement is on the table
4 years dedicated to the us
salary pay, work over time and get paid nothing extra.
Not much free time

Option 3.

Find a english teaching job in japan that doesn't require any college and live abroad for a little while and try to sustain my self on that job, see if I can meet any japanese women while doing so!

pros
Free time
Exploration of another country how I want to experience it
local women
I can withdraw if I feel it isn't the life style or country for me.

cons
No college - finding a job could be hard in japan for english teaching
Not many fitness centers or gyms staying in shape may or may not be easy
Starting budget before even flying over is only 3k$ sustaining and saving may be difficult or imposable.
No new skills learned, ability to get a job in the U.S if it doesn't work out remains low teaching english is not prestigious

In the past I've probably made about 2 posts similar to this one, its been a long time coming, just sometimes you need to decide to take action and stop screwing around just because change is difficult and just try for something, right or wrong inaction will result in the same thing, lack of results and the same existence is assured.

thoughts would be appreciated, I'm vary confused as to what to do, or what I'll pick, I know once I drop the job it wont be long before I have to make a choice.

If I did go to japan I wouldn't know what part would be best for finding a woman, or teaching english, if any of you know about this that would be great.

I don't have a visa and I've never been on a plain, but one doesn't tend to complain when escaping the doors of hell.

I know in the past a lot of you have told me to go to the philippines and china, china would ALMOST be a option but where I live i see so many Chinese people everyday I'm a little sick of it, and granted they are in the U.S.A now so they wont be acting like the ones from china....but a lot of them are fob, and even the fobs from china seem to be vary negative distant and not vary personable, none of the women have ever showed interest either other than one girl I met online who was fob.

As for the philippines I'm not attracted to the women, sure if you were to bring me 5 women who were all super models I'm sure I'd find one attractive, but lets get real, most of them wont look that way and any country has model type women, I'm in good shape and could probably pass for good looking and for sure handsome in a foreign country, but I'm sure I wouldn't be landing any models.

After reading that mountain of text a lot of you are probably thinking "just make a choice dumb ass"

Yeah well, I'm at the point in my life where the last years of my youth are on the line, and I'd like to do something great to make my self proud to make my blood proud, and I want to find a wife before I'm 30.

Sadly not all these options can accomplish every goal I have in mind.

Any advice you guys can give would be great, any advice on teaching without college or how hard it would be to do so in japan would be fantastic.

Last edited by magnum on Tue Jul 17, 2012 9:02 am, edited 1 time in total.

Tough one. I'm not going to offer advice, I will leave that to others familiar with Japan, or closer to your age. But I will say that you've thought this through very very well - I admire that.

One observation:
TEFL gets what you want with no delays. BUT - will it give you the pride you crave? Maybe, if the very idea of soaking into Japanese society, learning the language and culture, and being on an adventure, if all that excites you. OR - if you really feel like you could be a great teacher.

Japanese government has special visas for young English teachers like you. Don't know if you qualify with no college, but worth looking into. Might just take a certificate. You should make an appointment at a consulate, make friends and ask advice.

You need to be legal there so that you can rent a place and open a bank account. Once there, you can perhaps look around for other work requiring English or a Western face (e.g. customer service to U.S., or even a movie extra.....). I suspect that a Westerner, once there, would find opportunity at some level.

I fully plan on doing things legally, though to become a citizen of japan is insane.

The process takes 10 years, 5 if you get married to a local.

A lot of guys have suggested forging paperwork in order to teach english but honestly...that's tempting but I'm too honest and it's too dangerous to get a bad reputation in a country you might want to stay in.

You're right, citizenship is way too far down the road to worry about. i just mean to be able to live there and live a normal life year-to-year, without hiding that you're working, without frequent visa runs.

Japan is a place you can have memorable romances, experience new things, and have no guilt if you leave. Girls are grown up like you are, you're not taking advantage of someone ignorant, nor are the girls going to see you as a meal ticket.

TEFL courses are all over. Probably you can take it in Japan. But if they need a 4-year degree, or if TEFL isn't your bag for some reason, there are bases in Tokyo area and on Okinawa. You have to get IN WRITING from a recruiter if they promise you Japan though. Military recruiters are all professional liars, like cops or Nigerians.

And don't go to a recruiter alone. Take a mean old skeptic with you. And see different branches. And don't give them a lot of phone numbers, they will call them all for months or years.

IMO, Air Force is your best bet (base in Tokyo), Navy second (big presence), Army third.

Navy Seal thing seems like doing things the hard way unnecessarily. (I'm speaking as someone who usually finds the hard way to do things.)

"Pick a point and go to it."-- Dr John Hunsucker, speaking about canoeing on Georgia's Lake Lanier, with its irregular shape, and 1000 miles of meandering shoreline

The teaching jobs in Japan are drying up from what I hear. Korea, Taiwan and China are still hiring. I agree, most Chinese women are not very friendly. However, with 500 million women in China the odds are good you'll find one that likes you. The women from southern China(Guaugxi, Sichuan, Hunan) are generally considered to be make the best girlfriends. In addition, its still easy to find a teaching job in China too, I was just hired by a school in China last week. I'm not sure if I'm going to take the the teaching position for a variety of reasons but it was easy to get hired.

If your looking to make a fast gettaway, China would be my choice. Also, you can find Filipinas and Thai women online that have air conditioned houses if you want to hang with them for a while, in return for sexual favors of course.